Barbour leads govs. on campaign trip

Mississippi Gov. and Republican Governors Association Chairman Haley Barbour is poised to embark on a whirlwind trip through gubernatorial battlegrounds with a group of top GOP governors, showcasing Republican leadership in the states on what the RGA’s billing the “Remember November Tour.”

Barbour will hit 13 states in five days — starting Tuesday with New Mexico, Wyoming and South Dakota — and he’ll be joined for parts of the campaign swing by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the RGA’s vice chairman.

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The goal of the tour: Make the case to voters that Republicans are already governing successfully, even as President Barack Obama and other Democratic Party leaders push hard on the message that the GOP has either no ideas or bad ones.

“The Democrats who are bad-mouthing our candidates and ideas on the stump this year are recycling the same worn-out talking points they used last year in New Jersey and Virginia,” said RGA Communications Director Mike Schrimpf, recalling the GOP’s 2009 victories. “Republicans will be talking about their records and ideas — and the records of Govs. Christie and McDonnell appeal to every independent and swing voter in the nation in a way that Democrats could only dream of.”

It’s a furious campaign schedule for Barbour, who’s viewed as a potential 2012 presidential candidate. His Tuesday stops include a visit with Jindal to New Mexico, where Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez holds a lead in the open-seat governor’s race. On Wednesday, Barbour and Jindal will be joined by McDonnell for visits to Iowa, where former GOP Gov. Terry Branstad leads in the polls, and Wisconsin and Illinois, where Republican candidates are in close races for Democratic-held seats.

Barbour and McDonnell will continue on Thursday to New Hampshire, the key presidential primary state, featuring a closer-than-expected race between Republican John Stephen and Democratic Gov. John Lynch and open-seat Pennsylvania. Pawlenty joins them on Friday for events in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is facing a tough challenge from former GOP Rep. John Kasich. Barbour and Christie will also travel to Michigan that day.

The tour winds up Saturday as Barbour visits Oregon with Christie, Minnesota with Pawlenty and Florida by himself. Christie’s planning a trip on his own to Wisconsin, too.

That on-the-ground campaigning is expected to complement a powerful air war from the GOP committee, which raised $31 million in the third quarter of 2010 and ended September with $31.5 million in the bank.